The Global Sum - An outdated calculation?

The Global Sum - An outdated calculation?

It is common knowledge that the global sum for 2014/15 paid to each practice in England is £75.56 per weighted patient. However, there are many practices who suffer due to their weighted list size being considerably less than their raw list size. In the past they have been protected by the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee (MPIG), but from April 2014, over the next seven years, this funding is being withdrawn.

Sadly, there is little a practice can do to change the weighting of each patient. The calculation is based on what is known as the “Carr-Hill formula” and has been in place for over ten years. The formula is based on numerous factors such as gender, age, postcode and rurality. Accordingly, women are given a higher weighting than men, the older the patient the higher the weighting, and home postcode of the patient provides a complete lottery. Given this scenario, one can imagine the problem facing, for example university practices.

Inappropriately and perhaps surprisingly, the NHS have hitherto shown no interest in reviewing the calculation. But populations have changed considerably over the last ten years which must surely affect the weightings. Whilst nothing has been formally announcedthere has been “talk” of reviewing the formula as early as April 2015. Given the obvious flaws in the current formula, such a review cannot come soon enough. One final thought – is it more difficult and time consuming to treat an 85 year old woman than a student suffering from depression during their first move away from home?

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Northumberland

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Benfield Park Medical Group, Newcastle

We had no hesitation in moving to BW Medical Accountants. For any business your accountant is integral, and for us one of the most important factors to this relationship is to have a personal and trusting approach, which BW have undoubtedly achieved.

The service we receive and the interest they show in our practice assures us that they have a genuine interest in us and commitment to us. More importantly they are always helpful and polite to answer even the dumbest of questions! They give us confidence and reassurance knowing that they are always very up-to-date with all the numerous changes within general practice and we would have no hesitation in recommending them to other practices seeking a professional and personal accountancy service.

Jackie Rotherham, Practice Manager

The James Street Family Practice, Lincolnshire

We moved to BW Medical Accountants in 2013 and we are delighted that we have. Having been in the same business for over 20 years it is important to have a relationship with the accountancy team but most importantly you need to have trust. We made the decision to move our business to BW Medical Accountants and having worked with the Team especially Tina we are very satisfied. Tina going through the accounts brought to our attention many things that I was not aware of in the past. The first years' experience can only be described as excellent.

Customer service is first and foremost with BW and this shines through as each and every one of them are approachable, helpful and most importantly understand and know the business. General practice is complex and is going to get more complex in the coming years. We need Accountants who truly understand our business. We as a practice and as individuals would certainly recommend BW Medical Accountants.

Gloria Middleton, Managing Partner

Westbourne Medical Group, Sunderland

We changed to BW Medical Accountants and I would say we have just had the most transparent and understandable end of year meeting and the best planning advice I have ever had in 16 years of practice.